Guns in video-games and MeseCraft

[komodo]

I’ve been thinking about adding firearms/guns to MeseCraft. Some of you probably already realize that guns are in the game assets already. But they aren’t implemented or craft-able yet.

When I was growing up in the 90’s in the USA, the religious conservatives had a lot more influence in the media. It was common for the media to attack video-games that had violent themes like guns, violence, and more and try to censor those games. I remember when I was around 14 years old, I had to give my older cousin (age 18) money to buy Grand Theft Auto 3  for me so I could play it on my computer at home.

But these days, in America, it seems like guns are more OK in TV and movies for kids. I don’t know if that is 100% a good thing, but even in movies by Disney like Marvel super hero movies and Star Wars, the bad guys and even some of the good guys use guns, rocket launchers, and other weapons. It seems like things have changed culturally. (Kind of funny though because now it’s the other political party that has influence and power now and now they are trying to censor everything, and the roles are reversed and political parties seem to have no principles or morals supporting free speech and artistic expression when they are in power).

So I wonder what some of your thoughts are about putting guns into a video-game like MeseCraft. Do you think it is a bad influence? Personally, I think it is OK because to me, it’s just a tool and part of the game that can be fun. But I also think it is something people should be responsible about. To me I think it is OK as long as a young person has good guidance and ethics. Also, lots of other mods and games in Minetest have guns. I think it is OK to put them in, but wanted to start a discussion about it too.

[komodo]

I remember even things like Harry Potter books were really attacked in the media because they had things in them like magic, vampires, and other fantasy things that religious people did not like. So I suppose magic items could even be a controversial topic to some. I think ultimately, all of this stuff is OK as long as it is done properly and not disgusting or sadistic.

[Kiopy7]

I think guns and rocket launchers would add a much more new experience to game. It gives players something new to work up too. I do think adding too much different types guns is a bad idea though as it would overwhelm the player and it would be too hard for them too find which one is best or even if guns are worth it. I have been trying to get you to have guns added to mesecraft for a long time annnnnd finally! Yay! I also think you should make most big guns expensive to balance things.

[mistere]

from a gameplay point of view, I think that guns should not be added until/if there are a lot more hostile mobs that are dificult to subdue without them. otherwise guns are either too op or a letdown.

 

as far as gun ingame morally, eh idk. depends on how it is protrayed I guess. if its all about power and violence maddness, nah lets not. but If its about having more weapons in the game to play with, I think its ok in context

[odie]

My personal point of view on firearms is that it’s probably more humane to be shot over the head than to be slain with a sword with several strokes… or a pickaxe or a shovel… or a prodded spoon. So adding firearms does not, in my opinion, add any additional possibilities of depicted brutality to the game that is not already there. On the other hand, I know that the legal requirements in the USA are different from those here in Europe, and that these different requirements make the emergence of a strong gun lobby and a strong anti-gun lobby possible. As far as that is concerned, I can’t really speak from here.
As far as gun violence in games is concerned, I think it makes a big difference who the gun is pointed at. I think in terms of Minetest in 4 categories:
1. monsters and dangerous animals, that are real threats,
2. harmless animals,
3. human NPC (without zombies, of course) and
4. players.
Shooting serious threats is probably Ok.
To kill a cow or a pig you might not need a firearm, but somehow you have to use violence to get a feces.
As for the villagers, I think that a sane player will soon come to the point of view that it is not so funny in the long run to shoot all villagers over the heap. With a player who repeatedly logs into a Mesecraft survival server to shoot specifically at the cute villagers, I would get doubts about the health of the mind of this player. Such players can be found everywhere, but I’m afraid that they are rather rare on minetest survival servers, since there are now special servers for the cultivated PvP carnage under Minetest. And that’s ok. After all, there is a consensus that you kill each other virtually.
Regarding the violence between players in Mesecraft, I would like to point out that it is at the discretion of the administrator to allow PvP combat at all.
These considerations lead me to believe that an enabled PvP option in Mesecraft and Minetest is primarily to allow collateral damage. It would be different in the case of an anachy server. But whether a server is an anachy server is also up to the administrator.
So I think from a moral point of view it is definitely Ok to add firearms to the game inventory of a minetest game.
However, there is one thing that makes a difference between ranged weapons and the currently most common melee weapons, and could change the game dynamics significantly in special situations.Recently I had to deal with another obvious minetest newbie. These players may hit you with their wooden pickaxe simply to find out what is happening. If I’m attacked with a melee weapon (or tool), my first reaction is usually (even with more experienced players) to move back out of combat distance. If the player immediately moves in and continues to attack me I know “he’s really trying to cause trouble.” This is a form of non-verbal communication that doesn’t necessarily work with powder weapons because the combat distance and the damage inflicted is much greater. I’m afraid that this circumstance could lead to faster and more devastating misunderstandings. Violence between players could increase.

I have a suggestion that would mean a deeper intervention in the game concept. Besides, feasibility and the effort involved is hard to estimate for me and I have hardly any experience with Mars so far. Especially not under Mesecraft. (I know, my mistake, but you can’t be everywhere. 🙂 )
But I can simply suggest.

(See suggestion “Firearms to Mars”)

[komodo]

Yeah, it is really up to the players about how they will use the guns. But I think putting too much guns and stuff in it will turn it into something like fortnite or Rust. Too much combat pvp. MeseCraft would be fun if factions had combat, but I like the cooperative style a lot more.

Good points about swords and bows. I think that rationale makes a lot of sense. There isn’t really anything different about guns compared to a sword. Hopefully it’s just used right. Great feedback.

[thefluffysavage]

Never bothered with guns before in MTG  – but I must say the rifle is very good at dealing with wasps when gardening – it would be great if you could introduce a rabid flock of hardcore sheep that if shot at will attack the player instead of passively scattering like all the rest –

[gentooza]

Hi!

I’m not going to talk about guns in general, but I don’t like in game 😀 it’s my opinion:

I think that keeping mesecraft in a “specific era” would be nicer, for example:
swords, axes, spells, and some kind of rudimentary technology using mese. You are visiting  dungeons, hidden cities, etc.

Using guns in it, add unnecessary options in the workshop guide, and move the game to a strange era, where you can build your bronze armor, and have a magic staff, but also having a shotgun :-/

but good work!

cheers

 

[carzomg]

I agree with gentooza leave that can of worms closed. Maybe create Mesecraft ‘ Arcade ‘.

[andyiii]

A bit off-topic, but there is an arcade on the non-official “Mesecraft Survival Server” near the castle you spawn in. It uses Lua Controllers and primarily buttons to make small ASCII-art games.

As far as guns are concerned, I’m okay with leaving them out. On that server, the Riddance mod is used to hide the recipes that need unknown items.

[senordmt]

yea i somewhat agree. i remember the first time i saw guns in some blocky sandbox games and it seemed really odd and out of place, HOWEVER, we also do have mese tech, and other more modern tech, rather than all just medieval type fantasy world. as it is, mesecraft is already quite different with the going to the moon and mars and the bizzare ‘space aliens’ to be found there, so possibly using the guns mods, but making them look not like historical human made guns?

 

while searching through the contentdb recently i wanted to play around with more dynamite/TNT, so i searched for “tnt” and tried out various mods, and boy are they FUN!! especially when you tweak their damage radius.

 

there was an old video game called ‘Rampage’, where you played these giant animals just trashing buildings and such, and it was a lot of cathartic fun. it’s possible, with the massive vertical space in a MT world to have several ‘realms’ such as we already have the moon, the nether, etc. one with light gravity like the moon and endless rocket launcher ammo would be ridiculously fun if it could be worked into the game somehow, for those seeking that kind of chaos and adventure.

 

there could possibly be some boss mob to fight which puts up defenses in the form of piles of rock/blocks, and you have to blast it out, which would be something new for these blocky sandbox games, as far as i know. something big and massive to use the rocket launcher, or you won’t kill it. again, perhaps re-skinning the rocket launcher from the military green to something more wild and colorful looking. dragon launcher? mese cannon? etc.

 

whack-a-mole with giant sandworms and rocket launcher/mese-cannons anybody?

[senordmt]

**double post removed

[glassofjar]

I mostly agree with gentooza, i do think guns would degrade the immersion, but:

• there is a television,an helicopter and a toaster in the game right now.
• guns are really fun to use.

Here is 2 options to add the gun fun into the game while keeping it immersive:

• 1: no real guns, (Possibly remove everything “”technologically advanced””), and make some magical weapons with a “gunny” feeling
• (i.e: loud, precise, has recoil, has nice clicky metalic noises)

 

• 2: yes real guns but only “vintage” guns like a flintlock,a musket or a bayonet. maybe you can enchant a bullet ?
• the guns could be in a “bad” state when you find them, waterlogged, overgrown, rusted, (but still working). An overgrown revolver is telling you that time has passed, and that we are no longer in a “fresh gun era”.

 

 

[senordmt]

I’m thinking the opposite, not real or old guns, but like rail gun madness. I mean, we have a virtually infinite world, where u can move or break almost any block, why not have fun with that? just some destructive fun, in singleplayer, who cares, on servers, well there’s protection.

 

sure vintage guns, why not, but let’s face it, they’re pea shooters, and mesecraft is obviously sci-fi/fantasy, and the world is huge. let the destruction and mayhem begin!

[Author]

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